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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Records in the Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping Case to become Public

A federal judge ruled to make public sealed court docket entries and most hearings related to the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case. However, competency reports about Brian David Mitchell and records that involve a privacy right of anyone else involved will remain closed. Mitchell is charged with Smart's kidnapping and has been found incompetent to stand trial in state court twice. A 10-day federal court competency proceeding is scheduled to begin November 30.

An attorneys for media organizations say the ruling is "good news for access." Get more information here.